Abstract
Wind is the fastest growing renewable energy source for generating electricity, but economic research lags behind. In this study, therefore, we examine the economics of integrating large-scale wind energy into an existing electrical grid. Using a simple grid management model to investigate the impact of various levels of wind penetration on grid management costs, we show that costs of reducing CO2 emissions by relying more on wind power depend on the generation mix of the existing electrical grid and the degree of wind penetration, with costs ranging from $44 to well over $1000 per tonne of CO2 reduced. Costs are lowest if wind displaces large amounts of fossil fuel production and there is some hydroelectric power to act as a buffer. Hydro capacity has the ability to store wind generated power for use at more opportune times. If wind does nothing more than replace hydro or nuclear power, however, the environmental benefits (reduced CO2 emissions) of investing in wind power are small.
Article PDF
References
Cavallo, A.J.: High-capacity factor wind energy systems. J. Sol. Energy Eng. 117, 137–143 (1995)
DeCarolis, J.F., Keith, D.W.: The economics of large-scale wind power in a carbon constrained world. Energy Policy 34(4), 395–410 (2006)
Domenici, P.V., Lyons, B.J., Stevn, J.J.: A Brighter Tomorrow: Fulfilling the Promise of Nuclear Energy. Roman & Littlefield, Lanham (2004)
ENERCON: Enercon: Energy for the world. Enercon Gmbh. http://www.enercon.de/en/_home.htm (2007). Accessed 20 June 2008
ESB: Impact of wind power generation in Ireland on the operation of conventional plant and the economic implications. February. ESB National Grid, Dublin (2004)
Gagnon, L., Belanger, C., Yohji, U.: Life-cycle assessment of electricity generation options: The status of research in year 2001. Energy Policy 30, 1267–1278 (2002)
Greenblatt, J.B., Succar, S., Denkenberger, D.C., Williams, R.H., Socolow, R.H.: Baseload wind energy: modeling the competition between gas turbines and compressed air energy storage for supplemental generation. Energy Policy 35(3), 1474–1492 (2007)
Gross, R., Leach, M., Bauen, A.: Progress in renewable energy. Environ. Int. 29(1), 105–122 (2003)
Gross, R., Heptonstall, P., Anderson, D., Green, T., Leach, M., Skea, J.: The Costs and Impacts of Intermittency: An Assessment of the Evidence on the Costs and Impacts of Intermittent Generation on the British Electricity Network. Energy Research Centre, London (2006)
Gross, R., Heptonstall, P., Leach, M., Anderson, D., Green, T., Skea, J.: Renewables and the grid: Understanding intermittency. ICE Proc. Energy 160(1), 31–41 (2007)
Hirst, E., Hild, J.: Integrating Large Amounts of Wind Energy with a Small Electric-Power System. Excel Energy, Denver and Bellingham (2004)
IEA: Projected costs of generating electricity. 2005 update. Nuclear Energy Agency, IEA, OECD, Paris (2005)
Kennedy, S.: Wind power planning: Assessing long-term costs and benefits. Energy Policy 33(13), 1661–1575 (2005)
Lightbucket: Carbon emissions from electricity generation: JUST the numbers. wordpress.com. http://lightbucket.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/carbon-emissions-from-electricity-generation-just-the-numbers/ (2008). Accessed 10 July 2008
Love, M., Lawrence, P., Niet, T., McLean, G.: Utility-scale energy systems: Spatial and storage requirements. IESVic Working Paper, University of Victoria, Victoria (2003)
Lund, H.: Large-scale integration of wind power into different energy systems. Energy 30(13), 2402–2412 (2005)
Maddaloni, J.D., Rowe, A.M., van Kooten, G.C.: Network constrained wind integration on Vancouver Island. Energy Policy 36(2), 591–602 (2008)
Natural Resources Canada: Greenhouse gas and cost impacts of electric markets with regional hydrogen production. Report No. 2007. Government of Canada, Ottawa (2005)
Nordel’s Grid Group: Non-dispatchable production in the Nordel system. Report Presented at the Nordel’s Annual Meeting, May (2000)
Oswald, J., Raine, M., Ashraf-Ball, H.: Will British weather provide reliable electricity? Energy Policy 36(8), 3202–3215 (2008)
Pitt, L., van Kooten, G.C., Love, M., Djihali, N.: Utility-scale wind power: Impacts of increased penetration. Paper No. IGEC-097. In: Proceedings of the International Green Energy Conference, Waterloo (2005)
Piwko, R., Osborn, D., Gramlich, R., Jordan, G., Hawkins, D., Porter, K.: Wind energy delivery issues. IEEE Power Energy Mag. 3, 47–56 (2005)
Prescott, R., van Kooten, G.C.: Economic costs of managing of an electricity grid with increasing wind power penetration. Clim. Policy 9(2), 155–168 (2009)
Prescott, R., van Kooten, G.C., Zhu, H.: Potential for wind energy meeting electricity needs on Vancouver Island. Energy Environ. 18(6), 723–746 (2007)
Rooijmans, P.: Impact of a large-scale offshore wind farm on meteorology: numerical simulations with a mesoscale circulation model. Masters Thesis, Utrecht University, The Netherlands (2004)
van Kooten, G.C., Timilsina, G.R.: Wind power development: Economics and policies. Policy Research Working Paper 4868. World Bank, Washington (2009)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
About this article
Cite this article
van Kooten, G.C. Wind power: the economic impact of intermittency. Lett Spat Resour Sci 3, 1–17 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12076-009-0031-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12076-009-0031-y